


Night Terrors of the Past

by MaroonLeoInvestedCrybaby



Series: Shazam & Plastic Man [4]
Category: DCU (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types, Plastic Man (Comics), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaroonLeoInvestedCrybaby/pseuds/MaroonLeoInvestedCrybaby
Summary: Billy has been having nightmares about Sivana and not been getting enough sleep as a result of trying to stay awake and avoid them. During their time off, Plastic Man finds out about the kid's night terrors and tries to help.
Series: Shazam & Plastic Man [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923154
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	Night Terrors of the Past

Plastic Man and Billy Batson were sitting on the couch in Plas’s quarters on the Watchtower and watching some T.V. during their time-off. Nothing particularly interesting was on at the moment so Billy and Plastic Man decided on a show about heroes with magical abilities. The two at first joked about how unrealistic the whole show’s premise was, considering they were heroes themselves but despite that, it was pretty darn entertaining.

As they were on their fifth episode in a row, Billy was beginning to slouch on the sofa and started leaning on Plastic Man as the show was nearing its exciting climax but the kid’s eyes were slowly closing. The rubbery hero didn’t think twice as he wrapped an arm around Billy and pulled him a little closer as the main character in the episode was about to have his tragic backstory revealed.

After a few minutes into the climax, Plastic Man swore he felt some deep breathing against his side and he looked down at Billy to see that his eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep. The rubbery hero softly smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair while he gently asked a question.

“Billy? Are you awake?”

Billy stirred against Plastic Man and he quickly sat up when the stretchy hero asked that.

“Yeah…I’m awake…”

Plastic Man couldn’t help but smirk at Billy’s attempts to keep himself awake and noticed the way that the kid was trying to hide his yawns and forcing his eyes to stay open. Thinking Billy was probably trying to not be rude, the stretchy hero chuckled and tried to reassure him.

“If you wanna sleep, you can, kid. I’m not going to stop you. We had a crazy mission today.”

Billy looked a little hesitant to accept the offer of rest so he sat up straight, trying to keep himself awake. Plastic Man wasn’t quite sure why the kid seemed to be trying so hard to fend off sleeping, but the rubbery hero decided to grab some snacks from the kitchen for the rest of the show.

Plastic Man rummaged around in his fridge and found some sodas, leftover pizza, and a few other snacks and gathered them up in his arms. He turned to walk back to the couch and stopped short when he neared the sofa and saw Billy, previously trying to keep himself awake against all odds, conked out and laying on his side, softly snoring.

The stretchy hero warmly smiled and quietly put the snacks on the coffee table and stretched his hand towards the bedroom, grabbed a few blankets off the bed, and then pulled his hand back into the living room with the covers in tow. Plastic Man walked over towards Billy and placed the blankets on top of the kid and tucked them in around Billy.

After he finished making sure the kid was comfortable, Plastic Man sat down on the couch and started eating his snacks while watching the rest of the show. He tried to be as quiet as possible so Billy could get some sleep. However, only after a few minutes, the rubbery hero heard some whimpering next to him and Plastic Man looked over to see Billy tossing in his sleep.

The kid’s face was terrified and his breaths were erratic with each toss and turn. As he thrashed around, trying to escape whatever was plaguing him in his dreams, the blankets on top of him turned into a tangled mess and entrapping him more. Billy began to panic and started wheezing in desperation for air.

Plastic Man reached over and gently tapped Billy on the shoulder, trying to wake him up but also attempting to not startle the kid more. The rubbery hero’s voice was quiet but gently pressing as he touched the kid’s shoulder.

“Billy? Billy, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

Billy kept thrashing around and opened his mouth and started gasping for air while talking in his sleep.

“No…No!…NO!”

Plastic Man reached over and as gently as he could, shook Billy’s shoulder and as soon as he did, the kid’s eyes flicked open and he nearly head-butted the stretchy hero as he flung himself up to a sitting position. Plastic Man swore he could almost see Billy’s heart banging against his little chest as he tried to catch his breath. After a few beats of awkward silence between the kid covered in sweat trying to calm down and the rubbery hero whose heart was aching after seeing the young hero panicking, Plastic Man finally spoke.

“You been having nightmares, kid?”

Billy’s face turned red.

“Y-Yeah…”

Plastic Man scooted a little closer next to Billy and looked over at him.

“Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps to talk about what’s bothering you.”

Billy looked down at his hands and twisted his fingers around for a few moments before he spoke.

“This villain named Sivana…He attacked me and my family one time.”

Plastic Man didn’t interrupt but he gave Billy an encouraging nod when the kid looked up at him.

“He wanted the power that the wizard Shazam gave to me. At first, he only attacked me but once he found Freddy and interrogated him, Sivana kidnapped my family and threatened to hurt them unless I surrendered to him. At one point, he even tried to d-drown me…”

The rubbery hero’s instincts to protect Billy were kicking into overdrive but he knew that acting overprotective right now would only make things worse. Instead, Plastic Man wrapped an arm around Billy and gently pulled him into a side hug.

“That sounds like it was scary, kid. I’m sorry you had to go through something like that.”

Billy didn’t say anything but he did tightly wrap his skinny arms around the rubbery hero and nearly buried his face into Plastic Man’s side. The older hero’s heart ached to see the kid so frightened over something so traumatic and even though it wasn’t much in the way of comfort, Plastic Man rubbed Billy’s slightly trembling back and put out an offer that he hoped the kid would be willing to take.

“If you want, you can stay here for the night, Billy.”

The kid’s voice was slightly muffled when he spoke.

“Really?”

“Of course, kid. I could always use the company, you’re the only League member that will hang out with a goofy former-gangster-turned-hero.”

A soft chuckle from Billy echoed through the quiet quarters and Plastic Man allowed a small smile to spread across his face. The show had been temporarily forgotten and the stretchy hero decided to switch to a more lighthearted film. He decided to put on one of those famous animated movies he heard that were relaxing and found himself and Billy getting lost in the gorgeous animation and music. 

As the move continued playing, Billy started trying to keep himself awake again and Plastic Man reached over and ruffled the kid’s black hair, trying to reassure him. The affectionate gesture temporarily caught Billy off-guard and he looked over at the rubbery hero. Plastic Man offered a comforting smile.

“It’s alright, Billy. I’m not going anywhere.”

The kid’s face broke out into a grateful smile and he leaned into Plastic Man’s side, seeming like he was finally relaxing. The rubbery hero smiled as he looked down at the kid closing his eyes and fondly pulled Billy closer into a side hug. As the movie continued on, Plastic Man could feel the kid drifting off to sleep and the stretchy hero himself finally began to relax from the earlier scare. Before Plastic Man closed his eyes and fell asleep, he reassuringly squeezed Billy a little closer and whispered in the silent quarters.

“You’re safe, kid. Nobody is gonna hurt you while I’m here.”

And Plastic Man meant every word he said as he and Billy drifted off into a peaceful sleep without night terrors to wake them.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, sorry this update to the "Shazam & Plastic Man" series took so long but I hope you enjoyed giving it a read. I have several fics in the works and hope to have them posted sooner than later so I hope you will look forward to them in the near future!


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